Vermont State Legislative Election 2010 Political Courage Test

Abortion and Reproductive

1. Do you consider yourself pro-choice or pro-life?
- Pro-life

2. Should abortion be legal only within the first trimester of pregnancy?
- No Answer

3. Should abortion be legal when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape?
- No

4. Should abortion be legal when the life of the woman is endangered?
- No Answer

5. Do you support requiring parental notification before an abortion is performed on a minor?
- Yes

6. Do you support requiring parental consent before an abortion is performed on a minor?
- Yes

7. Do you support sexual education programs that include information on abstinence, contraceptives, and HIV/STD prevention methods?
- Yes

8. Do you support abstinence-only sexual education programs?
- No

9. Other or expanded principles
- b) uses "only" -- can't be answered yes/no; I do not believe abortion should be legal in the first three trimestersd) "endangered" is broadly interpreted to mean different things. I believe that if the life of the mother is in danger, every effort must be made to save both lives; at times, these action could result in knowing the infant may not survive (e.g., too premature), but actions for the deliberate purpose of causing the death of either should not be legal.I recognize current law, and would not act in futile measures to change it.

Budget, Spending, and Tax

1. Education (higher)
- Slightly Increase

2. Education (K-12)
- Slightly Decrease

3. Environment
- Maintain Status

4. Health care
- Slightly Decrease

5. Law enforcement
- Slightly Decrease

6. Transportation and highway infrastructure
- Maintain Status

7. Welfare
- Maintain Status

8. Other or expanded categories
- Health care in Vermont includes some very solid initiatives, and some that are simply adding to costs without demonstrated benefit. I would cut back strategically as part of broader reform. An increase, for example, is needed to fully fund the true costs of Medicaid as well as to manage the care better, reducing the cost shift.

1. Alcohol taxes
- Slightly Increase

2. Cigarette taxes
- Maintain Status

3. Corporate taxes
- Maintain Status

4. Gasoline taxes
- Slightly Increase

5. Property taxes
- Slightly Decrease

6. Sales taxes
- Maintain Status

7. Income taxes (low-income families)
- Maintain Status

8. Income taxes (middle-income families)
- Maintain Status

9. Income taxes (high-income families)
- Maintain Status

10. Other or expanded categories
- I strongly support an ignored tax category that would benefit health as well as state revenue: a junk food tax.

1. Tapping into Vermont's "rainy day" fund
- No

2. Issuing the early release of certain non-violent offenders
- Yes

3. Increasing tuition rates at public universities
- No

4. Instituting mandatory furloughs and layoffs for state employees
- Yes

5. Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients
- No

6. Privatizing certain government services
- Yes

7. Other or expanded principles
- b) I would not go beyond the current, ambitious effort as passed into law this year without evaluating its savings and outcomes.d) furloughs where essential, preferred by far to layoffsf) only under a clear showing of actual cost savings, and a preference hiring mechanism for state employees who lose jobs as a result

Campaign Finance and Government Reform

1. Individual
- No

2. Political Action Committee
- Yes

3. Corporate
- Yes

4. Political Party
- Yes

5. Should candidates for state office be encouraged to meet voluntary spending limits?
- No

6. Do you support requiring full and timely disclosure of campaign finance information?
- Yes

1. Other or expanded principles
- regarding b) -- it would be much more important to lengthen the term length; a two-year term is highly detrimentalc) Vermont's House currently has a very good blend of short service (new ideas), interim length, and long term (crucial for "instutional memory")d) if limits are too low in any of these categories, it gives an unfair advantage to incumbents, who do not always need to raise as much, given existing name recognition; it ties the hands of a newcomer who needs to raise more to get an equal footing.

Crime and Public Safety

1. Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes?
- No

2. Do you support alternatives to incarceration for certain non-violent offenders, such as mandatory counseling or substance abuse treatment?
- Yes

3. Should the possession of small amounts of marijuana be decriminalized?
- No

4. Should a minor accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult?
- Yes

5. Should a minor who sends sexually-explicit or nude photos by cell phone face criminal charges?
- No

6. Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police?
- No

7. Other or expanded principles
- a) we don't teach to not kill by killing, but in some situations, life must be truly absolute and not with any potential for releasec) penalties should be minimal, but remain misdemeanorsd) Vermont charges virtually all 16 and over as adults; this should be reversed, but a judicial opt-up be available for second offenses, felonies, and all violent acts.e) Vermont handled this well last term by making it a non-criminal offense

Economic

1. Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector?
- Yes

2. Do you support increased state funding for job-training programs that re-train displaced workers?
- No

3. Do you support expanding access to unemployment benefits?
- No

4. Do you support providing financial incentives to the private sector for the purpose of job creation?
- Yes

5. Do you support increased spending on infrastructure projects for the purpose of job creation?
- No

6. Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure?
- Yes

7. Other or expanded principles
- b) in theory yes, but not in place of limited priorities for current available fundingc) Vermont has extremely liberal access; some eligibility categories need to be tightenedd) not increased from crrent programe) not for job creation purposes; the skill set is too narrow in terms of ongoing employabilityf) on a limited basis, for example when there is evidence of a person being misled into believing their income could support a mortgage

Education

1. Do you support national education standards?
- Yes

2. Do you support consolidating Vermont's school districts?
- Yes

3. Do you support requiring public schools to administer high school exit exams?
- Yes

4. Do you support using a merit pay system for teachers?
- Yes

5. Do you support state funding for charter schools?
- Yes

6. Do you support the state government providing college students with financial aid?
- Yes

7. Should illegal immigrants who graduate from Vermont high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities?
- Yes

8. Other or expanded principles
- b) in a broad dialogue to build consensus about how and why -- not a blanket legislative mandated) with a long way to go in dialogue in how and whether it would achieve its goals

Environment and Energy

1. Do you support state funding for the development of alternative energy?
- Yes

2. Do you support state funding for the development of traditional domestic energy sources (e.g. coal, natural gas, oil)?
- No

3. Do you support providing financial incentives to farms that produce biofuel crops?
- No

4. Do you support state funding for improvements to Vermont's energy infrastructure?
- No

5. Do you support state funding for open space preservation?
- Yes

6. Do you support enacting environmental regulations aimed at reducing the effects of climate change?
- No

7. Other or expanded principles
- both e and f -- I support the very strong initiatives we currently have in these areas. I do not think we can afford to expand the "current use" property tax protection for undeveloped space beyond the current acreage; we do not need to enact more expanded environmental regulations

Gun

1. Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns?
- No

2. Do you support requiring background checks on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows?
- No

3. Do you support allowing individuals to carry concealed guns?
- Yes

4. Do you support requiring a license for gun possession?
- No

5. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Health

1. Do you support a universally-accessible, publicly-administered health insurance option?
- Yes

2. Do you support expanding access to health care through commercial health insurance reform?
- No

3. Do you support interstate health insurance compacts?
- No

4. Should individuals be required to purchase health care insurance?
- No

5. Do you support monetary limits on damages that can be collected in malpractice lawsuits?
- No

6. Do you support legalizing physician-assisted suicide in Vermont?
- No

7. Do you support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes?
- No

8. Other or expanded principles
- a) In concept, yes. It would require huge change in expectations of health care, not likely to be achievable. I do not think it is viable for a state on its own.) b) Employment-based model has outlived its usefulness.c) If it means products being available in Vermont without our protections, no.g) The key problem term here is "prescribe." I helped create Vermont's law, which bars prosecution if verified by a doctor on a specific list of ailments. This neither calls it "medicinal", nor makes doctors' actions illegal federally. It allows the outcome for persons to access symptom relief.

Social

1. Should marriage only be between one man and one woman?
- No

2. Should Vermont continue to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples?
- Yes

3. Do you support state funding for stem cell research?
- Yes

4. Do you support state funding for embryonic stem cell research?
- No

5. Do you support the state's use of affirmative action?
- Yes

6. Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Vermont's anti-discrimination laws?
- Yes

7. Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Vermont's anti-discrimination laws?
- Yes

8. Other or expanded principles
- An important clarification to a) and b): I proposed a revision, accepted in committee, to change the language related to marriage, to "civil marriage." The purpose was to clarify that the state should not be permitted to discriminate against same-sex couples in terms of the state's legitimate interests in civil marriage. However, since the same word has been used in the religious connotation, I wanted it to be clear that the law did not impose any restriction on the right to practice one's religion, including a faith group's own interpretation of what relationships are recognized for purposes of 'marriage.'

Legislative Priorities

Please explain in a total of 100 words or less, your top two or three priorities if elected. If they require additional funding for implementation, please explain how you would obtain this funding.
- 1. Balance the budget, and reduce property taxes through more efficient school spending (including in particular classroom size in upper grades.)2. Address the health care cost shift, which drives up private premiums in a hidden way. Replace it with direct funding in an income tax offset that would make sources of health care funding transparant, as a first step of education on overutilization. Stop adding new costs with untested benefits.3. Address a state energy policy that brings renewable resources more strongly into the mix, but without "all or nothing" additudes towards our options.